English major students’ perceptions of academic writing a struggle between writing to learn and learning to write nhận thức của sinh viên chính tiếng anh về viết học thuật cuộc đấu tranh giữa viết để học và học viết

English Major Students’ Perceptions of Academic Writing: A Struggle between Writing to Learn and Learning to Write Hasan Sağlamel2, Mustafa Naci Kayaoğlu3 Abstract Even though writing as a language skill takes a back seat especially with reference to the natural order hypothesis, appreciation of writing in academic settings propel learners to challenge the validity of this order It is not surprising therefore that writing deserves a higher priority in academic settings due much to its immediate practical application in a variety of academic tasks such as examination questions, essays, research reports, dissertation thesis and so on In line with this constant practice with writing, English majoring students are quite usually subject to production of texts in the academic essay genre and desire to position themselves in academic discourse community through following the desired academic conventions However, a considerable number of students fail to achieve the desired proficiency; cultural variations intrude into the language classrooms and differences in meaning learners attach to the writing activities are evident, which makes it necessary to explore students’ perceptions from academic writing courses To this end, questionnaires on students’ writing efficacy were distributed to the freshman students enrolled in Academic Writing class, and interviews were carried out to have a broader understanding of the expectations from the course Data from the questionnaire were analyzed using the SPSS and content analysis was employed to analyze the interviews Keywords: Learner expectations, ESL writing, Academic writing, English majoring students Introduction The growing emphasis on the learner-centred approach has been influential in all walks of education and, not surprisingly, the focus on the learners has become more pronounced than ever In line with this proliferation of studies aiming to capture learners from a wider range of skills, viewpoints and stakeholders, an exploration of the attitudes and perceptions of learners towards different writing genres has been of instrumental value Therefore, an exploration of learners’ views and perceptions might make the learners more engaged and more comfortable in their learning environment According to Wu (2006), when the learners’ expectations are undermined, resistance to learning might be identified Thus, the need to integrate learner perspectives could add a fuller version of the truth Suggesting a traditional marginalized role of L2 writing would not be poorly evidenced When the history of L2 writing instruction is considered, it is seen that due attention to writing instruction was only the case only in the last decades of the 20th century (Jawid & Umer, 2014) Before 1960s, when the Audiolingualism was in its heyday, emphasis usually fell on spoken language Moreover, with the escalating number of students enrolling in American universities, a growing interest in writing was conceivably situated However, the growing interest in second language writing was not much influential in the social aspects of writing and it is not surprising to see that the social nature of the writing was underrepresented (Can & Walker, 2014) For many years, the pedagogical aspects rather than the psycholinguistic or cognitive aspects of writing has been the focus of studies (Schoonen, Snellings, Stevenson, & Gelderen, 2009) and cognitive-oriented research in writing instruction has been a late bloom It is also evident that students’ perceptions towards writing in a second or foreign language is under researched (Petric, 2002) Therefore, the need to include learners’ perspectives of writing in the second language is more necessary than ever Moreover, when writing in foreign and second language contexts are also compared, learners in the former setting usually demonstrate a lower level of proficiency and less fully developed competencies (Ortega, 2009) One of the main curiosities of the researchers in second language writing field has been the poor standards of the second language writers To begin with, the absence of explicit writing instruction in the L1 has been an issue contributing to the substandard performance of the learners in L2 writing This makes them somehow limited because absence of explicit instruction could make learners of L2 writing potentially disadvantaged in terms of their expression in L2 Antoniou and Moriarty (2008) claimed that explicit teaching of writing is hardly a case The result is the novice writers who struggle to make their way in this challenging process Studies conducted on EFL learners usually point to the learners who fail to attain a proper degree of L2 writing proficiency (e.g., Cai, 2013; Ergür & Saraỗba, 2009; Tahaineh, 2010) and a considerable number of learners face the problem of meeting the writing demands of the students Especially for the neophytes, writing, as Cameron, Nairn, and Higgins (2009, p 270) argued, is an intimidating experience as their limited experience might lead them to exceed their emotional threshold and “cripple early writing endeavours” This is aptly put by the authors as follows: Thus, beginning academic writers face a considerable writing challenge They are developing their understanding and practice of writing as a messy process of writing and rewriting that brings ideas into being, and can be thrown into turmoil when they cannot seem to ‘get it right’ the first time They only have others’ finished work to compare theirs with; generally they not see the messy drafts of their peers and supervisors And their own critical voice tends to be far stronger than their creative voice (p 272) Findings from China, for instance, report on the students who demonstrate a low level of academic writing proficiency (See Cai, 2013) and tend to imitate certain expressions in their writing books (Xu, 2005) Similarly, students in Saudi Arabia were reported not to have the desired competencies in L2 writing (Jahin & Idrees, 2012) Except for situations in which students feel individually motivated, mastery in writing is rarely achieved and consequently students harbour feelings of dread and self-doubt (Cameron, Nairn, & Higgins, 2009) Given that learners of L2 writing are usually in “an excursion space”, which suggests that they are not in their own territory, feeling the pulse of the learners through related means would help researchers design their writing instruction and tailor it more the learners’ needs and expectations Learners who want to develop their proficiency in academic writing skills usually find themselves in a different realm This pursuit of academic excellence in a new territory is usually value-laden, that is a particular set of values are assumed Thus, not surprisingly, learners’ L1 or L2 output, as Rinnert and Kobayashi (2009) argued are somehow shaped by the social context they live in and their perceptions, preferences, values and language proficiency, which are affected by their L1 and L2 instruction as well as disciplinary knowledge Students’ writing in L2 is usually affected by their rhetorical and cultural writing patterns in their native language (Kaplan, 1987, 1988) Connor (2008) argued that rhetorical patterns are unique to each language and culture and the differences in these rhetorical patterns might make it more challenging for the learners to identify themselves in the new writing conventions Contrastive rhetoric, which suggests the cultural uniqueness of the rhetorical aspects, helps the learners to opt for ways to view the differences in their first and second languages and benefit from the dynamic cultural and interlinguistic influences Therefore, narrowing the lens on a particular setting in a particular culture will make the investigation into the perceptions of learners will make it easier to account for culturally variant patterns The focus of the study will be on the perceptions of English major students English major students either of native or non-native origin are in a position to meet the growing need for written products and make their way in several issues such as content, organization, purpose, audience, vocabulary, punctuation and spelling (Jahin & Idrees, 2012) Since these students are enrolled in English language related departments such as English language and literature, English language teaching, American language and literature, they are usually asked to write in English or most of their research endeavours depend heavily on their academic writing skills Therefore, the stakes are high when they are duly equipped with writing skills Literature Review According to Silva (1990), several approaches would help us keep track of the developmental stages in L2 writing Product-based approach, which is described as “a traditional approach in which students are encouraged to mimic a model text, usually is presented and analyzed at an early stage” (Gabrielatos, 2002, p.5) enabled learners to copy texts focusing on grammatical accuracy The focus on the language structures, sentence patterns paved the way for writing frames and table substitution (Jordan, 1997) with the emergence of functional approach, essay development gained prominence with particular attention to introduction, body and conclusion structures As Turgut and Kayaoğlu (2015) put it, this concern on the product is favorably regarded by the language teachers: …writing is used conventionally by teachers as a means of quickly assessing the students’ language production, giving too little attention to the process of writing including the conscious and unconscious decisions which the students can make for the purpose of communicating in different situations (p 48) However, the process approach shifted the focus from the finished product to the processes writers go through In accordance with this view, writing is a ‘‘nonlinear, exploratory, and generative process whereby writers discover and reformulate their ideas as they attempt to approximate meaning’’ (Zamel, 1983, p 165) With the introduction of process approach, mental processes inherent in writing came to the fore and learners were encouraged to pursue their own learning agenda Feedback gained prominence here and peer evaluation, conferences and written comments which helped learners sort out the problems through their subsequent drafts and revisions Despite the merits of the process approach in L2 writing instruction, processbased writing pedagogy or communicative teaching of writing did not always produce the expected results which led teachers to consider the little incentive in “Western writing pedagogy” In other words, even if the process approach is welcomed as an approach, it does not always produce desirable outcomes Large classes, L1 use, resistant student-teacher beliefs, contextual considerations which are not taken into account, teachers’ lack of emphasis or preparedness in communicative teaching, testing-oriented curriculum are among the reasons for the lack of predicted outcomes (see Casanave, 2009; Liu at all, 2004; Nunan, 2003) All these, indeed, take us to the need “to negotiate in the local institutional culture” (van Lier, 2004) So as to achieve such reconciliation, addressing to the needs and expectations of the stakeholders would produce meaningful results On the other hand, writing has often been associated with the results of acquisition, rather than a tool that assists acquisition process To put it differently, learners are assumed to develop their writing at the last stage This traditional learning-to-write perspective has been influential in writing pedagogy and integration of both quantitative and qualitative methods have considerably helped researchers go into the emic perspective through analysing the perceptions of the writers and the readers (Hyland, 2011) However, how people learn to write is still a question at its embryonic stage In process writing, learning how to write by writing is the major focus According to Mantle-Bromley (1995) attitudes have cognitive, evaluative and behavioural components Cognitive component refers to objects or situations which are related to attitudes, while evaluative component is about the likes and/or dislikes generated through particular attitudes Behavioural component, on the other hand, triggers learners to develop particular learning behaviours Therefore, understanding learners’ attitudes might help researchers develop reasoning for particular actions, behaviours and situations and so on Chen (2006) investigated Taiwanese EFL students’ writing deficiencies through error analysis and found that grammatical errors related to learners’ L1 are considered to be among the chief reasons for learners’ failure to demonstrate adequate L2 writing proficiency Xu (2005) pointed to Chinese students’ tendency to imitate certain expressions and the format of the published papers and much of their effort is devoted to layout though move or steps are not given the due respect they deserve White and Bruning (2005) identified the role of transmissional and transactional beliefs on learners’ writing quality Low transactional beliefs were found to be correlated with low organization and writing quality while learners with high transactional beliefs meant improved idea-content development, organization, voice sentence fluency conventions and so on Cai (2013) developed a needs analysis framework and the researcher came up with the finding that the participants attached a significant importance to writing especially with reference to their high instrumental motivation mean (4.55 out of 5.00) of completing their graduate studies compared to relatively lower mean of inner pleasure in academic writing (1.80 out of 5.00) The participants’ writing need driven more by their instrumental needs was crippled by their inability to write an effective content and in an appropriate structure and style Reporting that they had considerable difficulty in reviewing and critiquing, the participants demanded more assistance in academic features and styles When the challenges of writing were taken into consideration, it was evident that anxiety and fear override their emotions (Cameron et al., 2009, p 273) The following table provides an account of the challenges that workshop participants faced (See Table 1): Methodology In this study, a mixed-methods design was employed to triangulate qualitative and quantitative data collection According to Dörnyei (2007), mixed-methods research has several advantages: · the opportunity to combine both qualitative and quantitative research findings · complementary nature of qualitative (words) and quantitative (numbers) data · increased validity thanks to the convergence of findings · its wider appeal compared to a mono-method study Table Examples of the challenges of writing Source: Selected statements from a brainstorm on the challenges and highlights of writing by L2 participants at one writing workshop, September 2005 This study was conducted to investigate the perceptions of English major students studying at an English language and literature department towards Academic Writing courses It was conducted at a north-eastern state university in Turkey in 2014-2015 spring semestre The English major students who are taking Academic Writing classes were given Academic Writing perceptions questionnaire developed by the researchers Moreover, of the students who took the questionnaire, semi-structured interviews were carried out with students to further explain the needs and expectations of the learners As stated in the course objectives, the course aims to help learners to “focus on various academic writing activities such as summarizing and synthesizing, rhetorical analysis, argumentation and academic research paper The academic research paper will provide a guideline for students on how to write their graduation theses at the fourth year (Course Description).” The study was conducted with 115 freshman students whose age ranged from 18 to 44 (M=20, 7) Of the 115 participants 90 were female and 25 were male, and students (5 F, M) took the semi-structured interviews A simple sampling procedure was employed to choose the participants of the questionnaire According to Dörnyei (2007), random sampling “involves selecting members of the population to be included in the sample on a completely random basis” (p 97) On the other hand, convenience sampling procedure (see Dörnyei, 2007) was employed in deciding the participants who took the semi-structured interview The reason why English major students were included in the study is that they were they were taking Academic Writing classes and they were demanded to demonstrate a proper proficiency in academic writing skills Appropriate English is necessary for these English major students when they submit their assignments, when they are about to publish something in the school journal or when they are writing their exam papers or thesis Thus, writing in English is an integral part of them To promote the credibility of the construct, the questionnaire was developed by the researchers in the light of the literature First, some items developed by Ismail (2011) were included and those items were extended to include learners’ feelings, general beliefs, and beliefs of L1 and L2 writing A 5-point Likert scale from strongly agree (5) to strongly disagree (1) was employed The instrument items were found to be quite reliable (α = 83) Moreover, interview items were adapted in the light of the items developed by Majidi (2005) A piloting was carried out with a student who was taking Academic Writing course at the time of the interview Then focus group interview was conducted with students in their mother tongue, Turkish The interviews took 20 and 25 minutes respectively After writing the data verbatim, codes were developed by the researchers and to promote the consistency of codes and themes, another researcher was asked to analyze the transcription and develop codes A 90% consistency was found when two codings were compared Findings and Discussions Feelings towards schooled writing Students’ tendency to write was not adequately nurtured in school settings Sixty- seven out of 115 learners stated that they loved writing, but not for school Twenty six participants reported that they loved writing whereas the remaining 19 indicated they did not love writing The reluctance to get involved in school writing is aptly reported in focus group interviews: I: What kind of activities are you involved in terms of academic writing? S1: Assignments, poems, journals I: Which one sounds more attractive? S1: Everything not related to school It follows that when learners are pushed to write on certain issues, they may not welcome such top-down imposition Thus, one can reason the integration of students as decision makers in topic choice, which could make the writing practice gain a wider appeal Such integration would help learners claim ownership of the tasks they are likely to get involved in The lack of enjoyment in writing tasks can be supported through questionnaire items 19, 28 and 30 (See Table 2) Table Feelings towards L2 Writing SA+A SD+D Mean SD 47 3,1 1,3 47 38 2,8 1,2 English 31 69 3,6 1,4 I not enjoy writing in English 39 because it is a very difficult skill for me I enjoy writing in English I hate writing in because I had some bad experience in the past The items in the table above suggest that about one third of the students not love writing One reason for students’ lack of love for writing could come from the topics assigned In support of the teacher-driven topic choice, one informant in the second focus group expressed that: For instance, the lecturer asks us to something are we feel bounded by that topic, by the rules such as controlling idea, supporting idea Since we feel limited, we cannot express ourselves freely However, in the absence of a teacher, we feel we have more freedom Freedom to choose our topic, examples… (FG2) A similar reaction to the school-imposed topic choice was mentioned by an informant in the first focus group: We love the topics if they have any relevance to us; however, if we are asked to produce scientific things, the responsibility to ‘produce’ makes me nervous indeed … (FG1) The emphasis on “freedom” or lack of freedom is implied by another respondent who pointed to the strict rules: We seem to pay attention to rules more than we to our ideas We feel bounded by MLA, APA and punctuation Spelling, punctuation, word choice … (FG2) Table Writing at school N SA+A SD+ Mean SD 2,964 1,2332 2,973 1,2804 9 3,078 1,0608 D I not feel comfortable during a writing 115 44 41 activity Writing is something I only in school 115 44 Writing is something I only anticipate 115 35 doing for writing course 41 30 Moreover, schooled writing tasks are considered to have little utility in real life Students who not feel comfortable when writing, who perceive writing as a school task or who it only for writing course could best illustrate little value in real life (See Table 3) Even though academic writing is not welcomed by every student, the participants generally agreed that academic writing was an essential aspect of their current and future life A great many learners (71) believe that learning to write in English is a very important skill for their academic study at university This conviction is supported by the high majority of learners (85) who contend that academic writing skills are necessary for their graduate studies This necessity is coupled with the future career (74), publishing (69), and future job (74) (see Table 4) Table Motivation to write in L2 SA+A SD+D Mean SD 32 2,5 1,3 32 2,3 1,5 27 2,3 1,3 34 66 3,4 1,5 11 I not practice writing in English because 43 60 3,2 1,5 4,08 1,03 3,7 1,04 18 3,8 1,1 I write pretty well but will improve with more 68 practice Learning to write in English is a very 71 important skill for my academic study at the university I need to learn to write in English because it 74 is a very important skill for my future job 10 Writing is not a very important skill for me it is not very important for my academic study 12 Academic writing skills are necessary for 85 your current graduate studies 13 Academic writing is necessary in publishing 69 your graduate studies 14 Academic writing is important for your 74 future career When students' motives for academic writing are considered (see table 5), some conclusions could be drawn: Students in general consider mastery of writing as a practice that improves through practice That a great many students other agreed or strongly agreed with the idea that they will make better writers when they practice adequately can be taken as the learners' optimistic beliefs regarding the achievability of the writing course However, 56 out of 115 believed that writing is a talent which some people are granted casts some doubts on the beforementioned optimism To achieve better writing, learners usually point to a "writing model", that is, they write better than usual when they are supported with a model In accordance with the focus group interviews, this “model” is usually considered as essays written by native speakers Even though being integrated in the discourse community of the target language is something that students seem to be armed with since they are English major students, this is hindered by certain limitations This willingness to get immersed in the discourse community of the target language is articulated by a respondent who argued: “We feel ourselves as part of the discourse community; that is actually the reason why we have chosen this department…(FG2)” However, even though the learners want enter such discourse communities, they not think they are equally advantaged when they compare themselves with the native writers: “The native writer is advantaged as s/he knows the culture of the language If you have difficulty in thinking in Turkish… it will be a problem for you in writing But s/he [the native writer] can think in that language (FG1) They assume that they are somehow behind their native counterparts: “I think it will be premature to argue that we Table Beliefs about L2 writing Beliefs… SA+A 15 Writing is something that gets better and 67 SD+D Mean SD 23 2,40 1,3 42 2,82 1,3 33 2,53 1,3 32 3,07 1,1 40 3,15 1,2 29 2,64 1,1 47 3,07 1,3 better the more you it 16 Writing is a talent that some people have 56 and others don’t 17 I feel that I can be a good writer if I practice 66 writing regularly 18 I prefer to work with the teacher during a 36 writing activity 19 I can write better when I work with other 34 students 20 I prefer to look at a writing model before I 57 start writing in English 21 People who are good at grammar will have 40 no trouble in writing are like native writers In fact, they are also human beings like us and there are some rules that they also follow.” (FG2) Writing like a native speaker is usually the appreciated “model” This is best described by an informant in the first focus group interview: I think it is important to write like a native speaker If we see realize that their writing is easily understood and accepted to be consistent, we feel compelled to write like them That not everyone has the same capacity is quite acceptable, but everyone has the potential express their ideas (FG1) When students' L1 writing and L2 writing perceptions and behaviour is compared, some patterns could be developed First, about one third of the students (39) believe that their writing fluency in English is supported by their writing proficiency in their L1 (See Table 6) An equal number disagree with this while nearly the same number is neutral That students are not supported by their L1 writing proficiency is supported by our informal conversations with the students A great many students complain about their insufficient essay practice in Turkish It is assumed that L1 interference could be facilitating the L2 writing proficiency On the other hand, L1 interference could yield to be debilitating as the constant attempt to translate sentences might make them potentially disadvantaged: Thinking in Turkish makes me suffer when writing in English I make up complex sentences [in Turkish] and attempt to translate them into English Sometimes I make up very complicated sentences and I feel I cannot think in a more simple way I think the problem is with me I want to provide a detailed answer, but I see that the teacher wants us to make up clear and concise sentences… (FG2) Teachers’ expectation in “a simple way” is theoretically grounded when the different writing patterns across different cultures are taken into account Even though Western influence in writing style and argumentation has been felt especially with the rising impact of globalization, Turkey falls much into Asian and Arabic traditions when it comes to use of argumentation patterns (Uysal, 2012) However, the adorned or flowery language style is not welcomed by English and Northern European cultures as they not tolerate uncertainty (Hendricks et al., 2005) Teachers’ expectations seem to be target discourse-community driven, while students seem to uphold the adorned language which is a feature of Turkish writing (Enginarlar, 1990) One informant’s description of a good writer follows the hints of the elaborate style in question: “A good writer is someone who description and explanations are vivid, who has a powerful imagination If the person provides coherent ideas, if you understand something when you read him/her, that’s it” (FG2) Table Beliefs about L1 and L2 writing proficiency SA+A 22 I like to write in English because I am a 39 SD+D Mean SD 39 2,9 1,1 47 3,1 1,3 30 2,6 1,2 38 3,06 1,09 59 3,3 1,4 25 2,8 1,08 51 3,2 1,2 good writer in Turkish 23 I am not a good writer in both Turkish 41 and English 24 I think the writing traditions in Turkish 56 and English are quite different 25 I not think I am equipped with English 32 writing conventions 26 Only the native speakers can write 41 efficiently in English 27 A person must know the target culture 40 well in order to be a proficient writer 28 In terms of writing style, English and 33 Turkish are similar Conclusions Teachers and learners should find a balance between learning to write and writing to learn English major students sometimes have difficulty in choosing to invest their effort either on content or language Especially if learners not live up the expectations of academic writing, such a balance could prove to be instrumental An extensive body of research has accumulated to point to the connection between writing and L2 learning That numerous learners not feel themselves adequately equipped represents the traditional perspective, and writers might feel that their L2 development is not mature enough to cope with the demands of academic writing (Williams, 2012) However, in line with the writing-to- learn perspective, output plays a facilitating role in promoting L2 development To this end, teachers’ balanced stance will help capture the interplay of content and language, both of which are desirable for English major students Teachers’ decision making processes should comply with learners’ needs and expectations In this specific case, provision of feedback that is beyond grammar (see Özbay & Kayaoğlu, 2008), teacher-led topic choice, and teacher as the sheer audience seem to be the instances of a teacher-imposed curriculum; however, negotiation could result in more participatory and more internalized topics Students as sole decision-makers could provide choices or make decisions which are not approved by learners This will hardly result in learners' appreciation or internalisation of the topic A negotiated-syllabus in which students claim ownership of content selection, assessment and route of working could be instrumental on the way to help learners become active decision-makers in the organisation of teaching and learning (Nation & Macalister, 2010) Learners have a desire to write like native speakers, even though some of them expressed that it would be premature to write in that way Native-like writing fluency would be no more than a myth; however, some learners want to take native writers as a reference point Though, as Schumann (1978) argued, identification with the native speakers could aid learners’ language development, this could play an inhibitive role as such mastery is an unrealistic expectation Students' eagerness to get engaged in out-of-school writing practices gives the impression that schooled writing is not favorable for all learners Therefore, schools should teach writing which combines everyday life Scientific connotations of "academic" makes academic writing an endeavour which is beyond the reach of learners The word “academic” should be demystified and integrating writing in a more enjoyable, meaningful and engaging way should be sought This study is reduced to English major students; the findings may not be generalizable to all English learners A five-point Likert scale was used in the study; however, sometimes a considerable number of learners remained neutral, which made it difficult to interpret the results Future studies could be extended to different learners from different backgrounds and scales of different granularity (7 or point scales) or an even-numbered scale could be employed to eliminate the neutral or indifferent option References Antoniou, M., & Moriarty, J (2008) What can academic writers learn from creative writers? Developing guidance and support for lecturers in Higher Education Teaching in Higher Education, 13 (2), 157-167 Cai, L J (2013) Students’ perceptions of academic writing: A needs analysis of EAP in China Language Education in Asia, (1), 5-22 Cameron, J., Nairn, K & Higgins, J (2009) Demystifying academic writing: Reflections on emotions, know-how and academic identity Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 33 (2), 269-284 Can, G., & Walker, A (2014) Social science doctoral students’ needs and preferences for written feedback Higher Education, 68 (2), 303-318 DOI: 10.1007/s10734-014-9713-5 Casanave, C P (2009) Training for writing or training for reality? Challenges facing EFL writing teachers and students in language teacher education programs In R M Manchón (ed.) Writing in foreign language contexts 256–277 Buffalo, NY: Multilingual Matters Chen, R T (2006) Understanding of and strategy for effective writing education for high school students Educator’s Monthly, 473, 68-72 Connor, U (2008) Introduction In U Connor, E Nagelhout, & W V Rozycki (Eds.), Contrastive rhetoric: Reaching to intercultural rhetoric (pp 1-8) Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins Publishing Company Dörnyei, Z (2007) Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methodologies Oxford: Oxford University Press Enginarlar, H 1990 A contrastive analysis of writing in Turkish and English of Turkish high school students Unpublished Ph.D dissertation Hacettepe University, Turkey Ergỹr, D., & Saraỗba, T (2009) Self-evaluation of the students of English linguistics on academic study skills Education and Science, 34 (151), 17-29 Gabrielatos, C (2002) EFL writing: Product and process ERIC, ED476839 Hyland, K (2011) Learning to write: Issues in theory, research and pedagogy In R M Mancho´n (Ed.), Learning-to-write and writing-to-learn in an additional language (pp 17–35) Amsterdam: John Benjamins Ismail, S A A (2011) Exploring students’ perceptions of ESL writing English Language Teaching, Canadian Center of Science and Education, (2), 73-83 Jahin, J H., & Idrees, M.W (2012) EFL major student teachers’ writing proficiency and attitudes towards learning English Umm Al-Qura University Journal of Educational & Psychologic Sciences (1), 10-72 Javid, C Z., & Umer, M (2014) Investigating English language needs: Medical undergraduates perspective in a Saudi context Paper presented at the Global Summit on Education GSE 2014, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, Worldconferences.net Jordan, R R (1997) English for academic purposes: A guide and resource book for teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Kaplan, R (1987) Cultural thought patterns revisited In U Connor and R Kaplan (eds.), Writing across languages Reading, MA: Addison- Wesley Kaplan, R (1988) Contrastive rhetoric and second language learning: Notes toward a theory of contrastive rhetoric In A C Purves (Ed.), Writing across languages and cultures: Issues in contrastive rhetoric (pp 124-150) Newbury Park, CA: Sage Liu, D., Ahn, G-S., Baek K-S., & Han, N-O (2004) South Korean high school English teachers’ code switching: Questions and challenges in the drive for maximal use of English in teaching TESOL Quarterly, 38 (4), 605-638 Majidi, M (2005) Students’ perceptions of academic writing as a mode of communication Paper presented at the Canadian Association for the Study of Language and Learning Canada: Halifax Mantle-Bromley, C (1995) Positive attitudes and realistic beliefs: links to proficiency The Modern Language Journal, 79 (3), 372-386 Nation, P., & Macalister, J (2010) Language curriculum design London: Routledge Nunan, D (2003) The impact of English as a global language on educational policies and practices in the Asia-Pacific region TESOL Quarterly, 37 (4), 589-613 Ortega, L (2009) Studying writing across EFL contexts: Looking back and moving forward In R M Manchón (Ed.), Writing in foreign language contexts: Learning, teaching, and research (pp 232-255) Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters Özbay, A Ş, & Kayaoğlu, M N (2008) What tertiary level EFL writing teachers say but fail to when providing feedback? In Pawlak, M (Ed.), Investigating English language learning and teaching (253-267) Poznan: Adam Mickiewicz University Petrić, B (2002) Students' attitudes towards writing and the development of academic writing skills The Writing Center Journal, 22 (2), 9-27 Rinnert, C., & Kobayashi, H (2009) Situated writing practices in foreign language settings: The role of previous experience and instruction In R M Manchón (Ed.), Writing in foreign language contexts: Learning, teaching, and research (pp 23-48) Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters Schoonen, R., Snellings, P., Stevenson, M., & Van Gelderen, A (2008) Towards a blueprint of the foreign language writer: The linguistic and cognitive demands of foreign language writing In R Manchon (Ed.), Learning, teaching, and researching writing in foreign language contexts.US: Multilingual Matters Schumann, J H (1978) The pidgination process: A model for second language acquisition Rowley, MA: Newbury House Silva, T (1990) Second language composition instruction: Developments, issues, and directions in ESL In B Kroll (ed.), Second language writing: Research insights for the classroom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Tahaineh, Y S (2010) Arab EFL university students’ errors in the use of prepositions.MJAL, (1), 76-112 Turgut, F., & Kayaoğlu, M N (2015) Using rubrics as an instructional tool in EFL writing courses Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 11 (1), 47-58 Uysal, H H (2012) Argumentation across L1 and L2 writing: Exploring cultural influences and transfer issues VIAL-Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 9, 133-159 van Lier, L (2004) The ecology and semiotics of language learning: A sociocultural perspective Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers White, M J., & Bruning, R (2005) Implicit writing beliefs and their relation to writing quality Contemporary Educational Psychology, 30, 166–189 Wu, W S (2006) A study of the views of EFL University English-major students and native English-speaking teachers towards conversation classes in Taiwan Journal of National Formosa University, 95-104 Xu, L L (2005) A genre-based approach to the writing of the introduction section of an ESL/EFL academic paper Sino-US English Teaching, 2, 22-26 Zamel, V (1983) The composing processes of advanced ESL students: Six case studies TESOL Quarterly, 17, 165–187  ... 605-638 Majidi, M (2005) Students’ perceptions of academic writing as a mode of communication Paper presented at the Canadian Association for the Study of Language and Learning Canada: Halifax Mantle-Bromley,... are enrolled in English language related departments such as English language and literature, English language teaching, American language and literature, they are usually asked to write in English. .. the participants generally agreed that academic writing was an essential aspect of their current and future life A great many learners (71) believe that learning to write in English is a very